


Witch's Kiss

by redbinderdiaries



Category: Hey Arnold, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:20:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23159176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbinderdiaries/pseuds/redbinderdiaries
Summary: A direct sequel to PATAKI MAGI/BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo, boy....strap in, folks, because this one hurts.
> 
> Of all the stories I've posted on this account, this is the one I've actually WANTED to complete.
> 
> Flashback to 2017: at this point I've already written the first two stories in the PATAKI MAGI/BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR saga. I wanted to round out the series as a trilogy and had been toying with the idea of writing an edgy final chapter.
> 
> First some backstory: there is a character that appears in HEY ARNOLD! but is relegated to the background after season 1. Her name is Lana Vail, and allegedly she was given the Minerva Mink treatment because her character was deemed too inappropriate for a kids show (they were going to play her up as a single woman that was attracted to Arnold. I know, weird).
> 
> The idea of writing a fanfic about Lana Vail piqued my interest, and I started to concoct a story that focused on her perspective of loving Arnold. Obviously, the subject matter would've made this my first (and only) mature-rated HEY ARNOLD! fanfic.
> 
> Eventually, I pivoted with the concept and decided to combine the Lana Vail idea with my plans for writing a sequel to my PUELLA MAGI/HEY ARNOLD! crossover. Hence, WITCH'S KISS was born.
> 
> So, if I was so gung-ho on this fanfic idea...what happened?
> 
> Well, chalk this up to learning experiences and a valuable lesson on relying on your own IP.
> 
> I fell in love with the creation of an artist in the HA! community. The creator will remain anonymous, and heretofore will be referred to as X.
> 
> Anyway, X created a character with a compelling design and backstory, and I absolutely wanted them for my story. I approached X with the idea and asked for permission to use the character, and they approved, so I went ahead to write a proof-of-concept fanfic based on X's OC.
> 
> Naturally, I presented what I wrote to X before I made it public. X had a few notes and suggestions on how to properly convey their vision of the OC, to which I gladly obliged. I made the changes and the proof-of-concept went up on fanfiction.net.
> 
> Several months later, I felt it was time to enact phase 2 of what I had intended for X's OC. Since I had gotten the green light, I started to outline how I wanted the story to play out for WITCH'S KISS, and I had placed the OC as central to the overall plot.
> 
> I started writing the first five chapters of WITCH'S KISS (the first 3 chapters have been consolidated to one on AO3).
> 
> I knew this story was going to feature some mature subject matter, so again I decided to check in with the creator to see if it was okay to proceed before continuing with the story.
> 
> Unlike the previous time, I was met with radio silence. I gently followed up with X about 2 months later, so as not to badger them, but I never received feedback on the proper handling of their OC.
> 
> I took that as a tacit rejection of how I intended to use X's OC in the story. I really wanted to continue with WITCH'S KISS, but felt it would be disrespectful to proceed and not have X's blessing on the project.
> 
> THAT SAID...I still put a lot of effort in these first 5 chapters, and felt it would be a waste to never share what could have been with the sequel to PATAKI MAGI/BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.
> 
> I've still included X's OC in the fanfic, but I've censored the name to dissociate X's involvement (or lack thereof) from my story.
> 
> The moral? Write your own stories, or if you're going to write fanfiction, create your own original characters so you don't wind up in the awkward situation of abandoning a good idea before its time.
> 
> /rant

Phoebe walked along the empty sidewalk, deep in thought. Her friend Timberly was absent the past several days. In fact, a meeting with Gerald was originally planned for the weekend; not only did she not appear, but her family did not come to the city, which was very peculiar. Phoebe began to contemplate whether Timberly was angry at her…

She looked behind her shoulder, sensing that something was stalking her. Uneasily, Phoebe began to walk more quickly toward home.

When she turned the corner, she was suddenly assailed by a foreboding, shadowy creature. She was thrust into a dark alley and slammed into a group of trash cans. As she attempted to gain her bearings, the creature descended upon her mercilessly. She tried to fight it off, but the creature was impervious to her hits and blows.

Suddenly, a girl in a pink frilly dress with a staff appeared out of nowhere and attacked the shadowy creature. Just when she was able to stave it off, the girl slammed her staff to the ground with conviction; suddenly, a stampede of sheep appeared from seemingly nowhere, and proceeded to trample the creature to death.

When the incident had passed, the blonde girl dusted herself off then offered a white-gloved hand to the surprised Phoebe. “Are you alright?”

Phoebe accepted the hand, propping herself onto her feet. “I think so….thank you for saving me.”

The girl smiled. “It was nothing. You’re Tia’s friend, correct?

“Tia? You mean Timberly? You know Timberly?”

“I know that she’s been missing for two weeks now.”

“What?” Phoebe frowned. “How is that possible?”

“If you’re friends with Tia – or Timberly, as you call her – then you are aware of what she is, and how our lives are always in a state of peril. For all I know, she could have had a bad way with a witch and gotten herself killed.”

“Please…don’t say that,”

The girl smirked. “So you ARE her friend. Well, I’m not going to pretend I know what happened to her, but perhaps with your help we can get to the bottom of this mystery.”

“Me? What can I do?”

“When Timberly wasn’t with you or with the other magical girls, she hung around a young woman’s house not far from here. A Miss Olga Pataki.”

“Miss Pataki? That’s my homeroom teacher!”

The blonde smiled. “Exactly. I don’t know her personally, but perhaps if you ask the right questions, we’d be closer to knowing what’s going on.”

“Of course. I’m Phoebe, by the way.”

“Gloria.”

2

The two girls stopped before an old brownstone on the other side of the city. The light in the front window was on, signalling that Olga was home.

“Here we are,” said Phoebe.

“Good luck,” quipped Gloria.

Phoebe ascended the steps of the brownstone and rapped her fist gently on the door. Nothing happened at first, but after several seconds, the door opened and Olga peered her head outside. “Oh! Phoebe! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing out so late?”

“Hi Miss Pataki,” replied Phoebe. “I was just in the neighborhood, and I saw that your light was still on and…well…can I come in for a moment?”

“Why of course you can!” Olga opened the door wide enough for Phoebe to enter, then closed it behind them, with Gloria waiting patiently outside.

“You just caught me in the middle of cooking dinner,” said Olga. Olga lived alone in a small one-bedroom apartment that she made especially warm and cozy despite living on her own. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you some tea?”

Phoebe sat down on the ottoman and once Olga handed her a cup of Earl Grey tea, the two began to talk, just shooting the breeze and engaging in common pleasantries.

“You know, you’re always welcome to come by and chat,” suggested Olga. “But was there a particular reason you decided to visit?”

Phoebe set her teacup down. “Actually, there is,” she said. “I was wondering if you know about a girl that goes by the name Tia. Lanky, curly hair, wears an overgrown sweater…”

“Tia…OH, Tia,” Olga’s face suddenly brightened with recognition. “Yes, I know her! This house gets lonely from time to time, so the door is always open from children from broken homes or with nowhere else to go. I’m surprised that you know her, Phoebe,”

“Well, I’m actually inquiring for a friend,” explained Phoebe, not willing to pursue the issue further.

Luckily Olga didn’t bite. She took of sip of tea from her cup and leaned back in her chair. “Tia’s such a nice girl. But behind those eyes I could see so much sadness. She’s obviously been through a lot. I try my best to help her, but she’s very tight-lipped when she visits….Tia used to come by all the time…”

“I’m sorry….’used to’?”

Olga sighed sadly. “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen Tia in over a month. I hope nothing’s happened to her. She seems like a girl with street smarts, but this city could be so relentlessly cruel….”

There was a slight rap on the door. At first Phoebe panicked, worried that Gloria had gotten impatient and had tried to take matters into her own hands, but when Olga got up to open the door, it was actually Phoebe’s classmate, Brainy, who was on the other side.

“Good evening, Brainy,” greeted Olga. “What brings you to my door?”

“Uh….” wheezed Brainy. “Cans…..”

“Oh, that’s right! I did promise you some cans for the can drive. Wait just a moment.”

As Olga departed for the kitchen, Phoebe leaned in from her spot on the chair so she could get a good look at Brainy standing at the door. When she waved to him, he sheepishly waved back. Phoebe almost thought he looked a little bit guilty….

Olga re-appeared with a large supply of canned goods, double-bagged with plastic grocery bags. “Here you are, Brainy. I hope that will be enough.

“Uh….sure,” he wheezed. “Kay, bye….”

When Brainy was gone, Olga went back into the living room. “Such a caring boy, that Brainy. I’ve never known a kid so obsessed with cans. Oh, you’re leaving so soon?”

Phoebe was already standing, her teacup drained. “Yes, it’s getting rather late, so I should be heading out. Thank you for having me.”

“It’s been my pleasure. And Phoebe?”

Phoebe paused midway through opening the door.

“If you or your friend happen to see Tia again….let me know if she’s happy and healthy. And that my door’s always open for her.”

Phoebe nodded. “I promise.”

Gloria approached Phoebe as soon as she had left the house.

“Any luck?” she asked.

Phoebe shook her head. “Miss Pataki said she hasn’t seen Tia in a month. I’m starting to get worried.”

“Hmm…” Gloria put her hand to her chin and pondered for a moment. “Phoebe, who was that kid that came to the house after you?”

Phoebe blinked, perplexed in the sudden change of topic. “That’s Brainy. He’s in my homeroom class. He just came to the door to get some canned goods for our teacher. He said it was for a can drive being held at his church.”

“Interesting…” Gloria was silent for several seconds, then she transformed into her Puella Magi costume and tapped her staff to the ground. A floating vehicle of cloud-like sheep hovered before her. “I have an idea, hop on.”

Phoebe eyed the aircraft with notable trepidation. “Is it safe?”

“Of course it’s safe, I’ve only fallen off twice,” replied Gloria. When Phoebe blanched, she rolled her eyes. “I’m KIDDING, of course.”

Reluctantly, Phoebe crawled onto the floating platform. When she was convinced that she wasn’t going to fall through the middle, she began to relax….at least until Gloria hopped on and the floating sheep-cloud hurtled itself vertically by 50 feet.

“Where are we going?!” asked Phoebe, too terrified to look down.

“Not sure yet,” replied Gloria. “But if my hunch is correct, we’re meeting someone who’ll be very useful to our cause.”

3

Brainy stopped before a large abandoned warehouse in the industrial sector of the city. As he entered, the two girls that had been spying on him—Phoebe and Gloria—descended from their hovering sheepcraft and eyed the building.

“I don’t understand,” said Phoebe. “Why are we here?”

“I’m sure T’s told you how dangerous our line of work is,” said Gloria. “It takes a strong Puella Magi to outlast the physical and psychological hell we go through on a daily basis. A near-invincible one to reject it all completely. I’ve met one like that a long time ago.”

“You have?”

“Yes. She saved my life actually. I found myself face-to-face with a formidable witch that I just couldn’t subdue. I thought my clock had been punched, but then this girl came out of nowhere and just…obliterated it. It was like nothing I had ever seen.”

“Did you speak to her?”

“Sorta. When the dust cleared and she was walking away with the grief seed in her hand, I yelled thank you to her…she just kinda turned and sneered and said ‘You’re lucky I needed one of these, I only bother to fight for them a day out of the year’. Can you imagine that? A magical girl so powerful that she only needs to recharge her soul gem once a year!”

“And you suspect that she’ll help us?”

“That I’m not so sure about. As strong as she is, she tends to keep a low profile and doesn’t work well with others. It’s taken me this long to find her secret hideout. But if we can get her on our side, she’d be a formidable ally.”

“How do you intend to do that?”

Gloria looked at Phoebe coyly as they entered the building. “Oh…let’s just say I have an ace up my sleeve…”

Brainy stopped in an open area of the warehouse, before an arrangement of barrels resembling a giant throne. He set the bag of cans in front of the throne and backed away several feet, waiting expectantly.

“’Bout time, I’m starving!” came a female voice. The ground underneath the bag seem to give away as it descended into shadows. At the seat of the giant throne, a girl arose from the shadows, holding the bag in one hand and a can-opener in the other. She kicked her legs in excitement as she fished through the bag.

“Alright! Nice haul, Brian! What did you get for me?”

Brainy blushed slightly and rubbed his arm with his other hand. “Uh…you know…stuff…?”

“Ooh…sardines!” The girl cracked open the sardine canister and was about to drop one oily fish within her gullet, but then paused and glared at Brainy angrily. “Brian, you DIDN’T!”

Brainy sobered up, his wheezing intensified. “Did what?”

The girl sat upright from her leisurely position on the throne and squeezed the oily fish between her fingers. “We’ve got company.”

She threw oily fishy mush at the ground. Phoebe and Gloria walked up and stopped short of it. “Is that any way to treat guests, A____?”

A_____ harrumphed and dunked her finger in the sardine can, running it along the oily backs of the remaining fish. “Remind me to pick you last for the hide-and-seek championships,” she quipped glumly.

“Ha ha,” remarked Gloria, drily. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to bug you. I’m just here to talk business.”

“Yeah, well whatever it is, I’m not interested, alright? This conversation is OVER,” and with that, the girl appeared to descend into the barrels and vanish.

Phoebe was stunned. “Where did she go?”

Gloria ignored the question, instead opting to take a step forward and eye her surroundings as though she was searching for A_____.

“Please, A____, we need your help. A girl’s gone missing and the number of witches in the city has dropped dramatically. There might not be any witches left, and that means fewer grief seeds for everyone!”

Phoebe looked at Gloria. “Really? But that thing that attacked me…?”

“Not a witch,” replied Gloria, eyeing the ceiling for A____. “Just a familiar, and they don’t drop grief seeds. Make no mistake, there's been plenty work to go around with their appearance, but there hasn’t been an actual witch sighting in quite some time.”

“You mean…like a month?”

Gloria glanced at Phoebe briefly. “Now you’re catching on.”

“So, you think there’s a connection between Timberly missing and the disappearing witches.”

“More than likely….which is why we’d really appreciate your input, A____!” Gloria yelled the last point for emphasis.

“Not listening, la, la la” echoed A____’s voice throughout the warehouse.

Gloria gritted her teeth. “Alright, fine. Guess I’ll have to sweeten the deal.” She snapped her fingers and several large cans of food appeared before her feet.

A____’s singing immediately halted and was followed by a gasp. “No way!” Suddenly, A____ emerged through shadow behind (a legitimately weirded-out) Brainy and grabbed him tightly by the shoulders. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It is if what you’re thinking is Mama Italiano Value Sized canned spaghetti in Marinara sauce.”

“Those have been out of stock for MONTHS! Where did you get those cans?” A____ lunged for them but no sooner had they appeared did Gloria snap her fingers and they were spirited away out of her grasp. “Aww come on, lemme have just one! That’s not fair!”

“Agree to help us track down the missing girl, and maybe I’ll reconsider.”

A____ groaned melodramatically and ran her hands down her cheeks. “Alright, fine, fine! I’ll see what I can do.”

Gloria smiled and snapped her fingers; a single can materialized in A____’s hands, and she hugged it as though she were embracing a childhood doll. Then Gloria left, with Phoebe right behind her.

“Gloria…who was that?” asked Phoebe.

“Her name is A____. She’s an orphan that made a wish to be part of a traveling circus. Allegedly the troupe went out of business so she decided to stay in Hillwood, which is where she’s been ever since. My research led me to discover her favorite food was canned spaghetti.”

“And what about Brainy? How does he factor into all this?”

Gloria peered behind her shoulder. A____ was sitting back on her barrel throne as Brainy fed her the contents of the canned spaghetti with a spoon. A____ patted Brainy affectionately on the head, causing him to blush profusely.

“Not sure,” replied Gloria with a shrug. “I think she just really likes him.”


	2. Chapter 2

_Phoebe was swinging alone at the park. At least, she thought she was alone; after a while, the swing beside her started moving. At first, it was seemingly on its own, but gradually a person appeared in the seat. It was a blonde girl, about 9 years old, in a pink dress and bow. Phoebe tried to get a good look at the girl's face, but her pigtails kept swinging in a manner that had obstructed her view._

_“Hi,” said Phoebe. “My name’s Phoebe. What’s yours?”_

_The girl opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was the sound of static._

Phoebe woke up.

\---

Phoebe and Gloria met at the edge of the city; apparently there had been a break in the case.

They had met the girl after-hours atop a billboard promoting Yahoo! Soda overlooking the freeway that led out of the city of Hillwood.

“So what are we doing here?” asked Gloria.

“After you found those cans of my favourite spaghetti,” A____ explained, “I got to thinking: where did they come from? Someone had to ship the cans into Hillwood, right? And then I remembered, there’s a factory that makes it in the neighbouring city. So then I figured, I would just scope out when the next shipment was expected to arrive…”

“Again, what are we doing here?” repeated Gloria. “I thought we agreed you would help us find Tia.”

A____ shook her head in frustration. “Duh! That’s why I called you here! Just look!”

She pointed to the road, which was now empty. Gloria rolled her eyes and sighed.

“I’m confused,” Phoebe admitted.

“Shh! J-j-j-just wait!”

“C’mon, Phoebe – this was a waste of time,”

“No!” A____ stubbornly grabbed onto Phoebe’s arm to keep her from leaving. At that moment, the headlights of a big rig barrelled down the freeway. The three girls watched as the truck made it halfway down the road, when suddenly it vanished into thin air.

A____ pointed frantically where the event took place, jumping up and down. “You see? You see?”

Phoebe said nothing; Gloria’s eyes widened in surprise. “Interesting…”

As it was the middle of the night and there was little traffic, the three girls went down to ground-level to get a closer look. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the area at first, but a slight ripple could be seen as they approached the fringe where the disappearance occurred.

Phoebe squinted. “Did you see that?”

Gloria poked her staff at the anomaly, and was alarmed to find some resistance. A____ did the same, opting to place her hands directly on the border; she immediately recoiled her hand back after making contact, shaking it furiously.

“Is it hot?” asked Gloria.

“No – it’s wet!”

“What?” Gloria extended her free hand to inspect; sure enough, when she withdrew it back, she grimaced at the texture it left on her hand. “That’s disgusting….”

Phoebe stepped forward and was about to place her hand on the barrier as well, but Gloria stopped. “No, don’t. You’re not a magical girl. What if you go through the other side?

“Then she could get my spaghetti!” chimed A____ excitedly.

“But what if she _can’t_ come back? We’d better not chance it.”

The girls agreed to regroup at a later date to discuss how to properly approach the barrier.

\---

Phoebe arrived home later that evening to her worried father, Kyo. He was pacing back and forth in the front of the door.

“Phoebe! There you are!” exclaimed her father, as he rolled his wheelchair over to greet her. “What a relief….I was so worried….”

Phoebe frowned. “I’m fine, Father, really,” she said, making her way into the living room. Kyo trailed closely after her.

“You really should have called. When I don’t hear from you, I immediately fear the worst and….”

Phoebe turned around to face her father. “You know how much I care about you,” he said. “The both of you.”

Phoebe’s eyes wandered to the portrait of her late mother, Reba, on the mantelpiece. Then she looked back at her father. “You’re right, Father. It won’t happen again. Next time I’ll call.”

Kyo seemed satisfied, so Phoebe continued to head for her room, but not before he spoke one last time.

“Oh, Phoebe! Your young friend Arnold had stopped by again.”

Phoebe halted in her tracks. With all that had been going on, what with the disappearance of Timberly, and the other strange occurrences, she was neglecting Arnold.

“I think you should reach out to him. He’s a very good boy, and he was so very instrumental in getting you back on our feet after—“

“Thank you, Father,” Phoebe cut him off “I’ll be sure to give him a call.”


	3. Chapter 3

_Gloria was in a dream where she was playing tetherball in the schoolyard of P.S. 118._

_Her opponent looked to be a girl about her age, with blonde hair in pigtails and wearing a pink dress. A large pink bow was affixed atop her head._

_As they played, Gloria noticed that her legs were chained to the ground. She also found it peculiar that although the girl was directly across from her, she couldn’t quite see her face. Whose dream was this?_

_Gloria missed a volley and the ball snaked its way around the pole to which it was attached, concluding the round._

_Suddenly, the girl in pigtails was holding a football. She stood there silently for several seconds before walking away backwards, never turning her back to Gloria._

_“Hey, wait!” cried Gloria, unable to chase after her. “Who are you?”_

_As the girl disappeared into the fog, she opened her mouth to speak, but all Gloria could here was static._

_\---_

Gloria was startled to find herself jolted awake, as though she had been sleeping. Was that her own dream? Impossible. Since becoming a Puella Magi she had lost the ability to sleep or to dream. And yet, in this most recent dream, she didn’t retain her ability to control her environment.

Was this the work of the anomaly? She heard from the other magical girls stories of a figure in a cloak and mask that would appear out of nowhere to help when someone was in danger. Was this dream more like a vision? WAS she in danger? She needed to know more.

She decided to pay a visit to a group of girls that lived in an abandoned building downtown. But when she arrived, she was surprised to find only A____.

“What are you doing here?” Gloria asked.

A____ shrugged. “Looking for you.”

“Why? Did you have the same dream?”

“Huh?”

Gloria waved her off. “Never mind. Something strange is going on…and I can't explain it, but I think it involves Phoebe…”

\----

Arnold and Phoebe walked down the sidewalk together after just finishing a movie date.

“I wanted to thank you for coming to the movies with me,” Arnold said. “Sorry it wasn’t very good. It kinda went off the rails once they started launching alligators into space….”

As Arnold continued to talk, Phoebe’s attention was directed toward a cloaked figure standing several yards ahead.

“…Phoebe…?”

The figure turned the corner and Phoebe darted after it. She found her way into an alley and spotted the figure walking away from her.

“Please, wait!” Phoebe called out. The figure paused. Phoebe took a step forward. “Don’t be afraid. I just want to talk to you. Who are you?”

At first, the figure didn’t budge. But then it slowly began to turn around. Phoebe could see it was wearing a mask, and she swore she could make out traces of blonde hair behind the cloak.

“Phoebe!” she turned around and saw that Arnold was chasing after her. When she turned to look at the figure, it had vanished.

After Arnold had caught his breath, he grabbed Phoebe intensely with both hands. “Seriously, what’s gotten into you?”

Phoebe was flustered by Arnold’s reaction. “I…I thought I saw something…”

Arnold sighed in exasperation. “You’ve been acting really strange lately. What’s going on? You can tell me – I mean, we’re friends, right?”

There was the sound of footsteps. Arnold and Phoebe both turned to the entrance of the alleyway. There, a young girl in a Campfire Lass was staring at them, and holding an unusually oblong box of chocolates.

“Excuse me, sir and miss, but might I interest you in a box of Chocolate Turtles?”

“Uh…no thanks” Arnold turned away from the girl, but Phoebe, who was still facing the alleyway entrance noticed that the girl was approaching them. She opened the box and pulled out a baseball bat.

“Look out!” Phoebe pushed Arnold out of the way, just in time, before the girl swung for his body. The two dove into a nearby pile of trashcans.

“Geez!” cried Arnold. “What the heck?!”

The girl casually tossed the baseball bat aside and transformed so that she was wearing a giant turtleshell, and she had Braveheart-esque warpaint on her face. In her left hand appeared a shillelagh, which she swung ferociously.

“Come on – this way!” Phoebe grabbed Arnold’s hand and ran in the opposite direction down the alleyway. Her path was cut off however, when several other girls descended from above to block her. One of the girls Phoebe recognized immediately.

“Timberly,” Phoebe gasped.

Timberly didn’t react to Phoebe calling her name. The Campfire Lass suddenly snuck up behind Arnold and grabbed him.


End file.
